Supply chain employers on probation: 78% of workers would leave a new employer within three months if expectations are not met

Staff turnover and shortages have put supply chain workers in the box seat, with new research showing Australia's flexible workers are putting new employers on probation. Workers now assess if a company meets their own expectations in the first three months of employment before committing to working with them over the longer term.

This adds extra pressure to industries such as transport and logistics, which, according to Australian Industry Standards, have faced increasing labour shortages for many years, which intensified during the pandemic. Additionally, it found that the average workforce member age of 45 is higher than in other industries. This is projected to create a potential workforce crisis within the next 10-15 years when older workers retire, yet the workforce needs to increase from 574,080 in 2021 to an estimated 600,648 by 2026.

A survey of 500 Australian part-time (or shift-based, roster-driven) workers undertaken by Humanforce, a provider of intelligent workforce management and payroll solutions, found that 87% of flexible workers, including supply chain employees, are assessing new employers during their traditional probationary period and 78% will leave a new employer within their first three months of employment if their expectations are not met.

"In a hiring market that favours employees, Australian supply chain businesses are being put on notice that traditional probationary periods attached to new hires now goes both ways,” said Clayton Pyne, CEO of Humanforce. “Supply chain companies themselves are being scrutinised by new hires who want to be able to fulfil their employment obligations in positive working environments and have the flexibility to align their work with other important life commitments."

Research findings highlight that initial impressions count, with 89% of respondents saying that their employment experience over the first three months influences whether they stayed working for that employer. Additionally, only 43% say that their opinion of a company they worked for could be positively changed once they had a bad experience with an employer.

More than half (54%) of people surveyed said that feedback from existing staff regarding what the company is like to work with and the attitude of management (75%) were key contributing factors to an employee’s perception of their new employer.

For many workers, negative employer perception translated into direct action, with 37% stating that they had previously left an employer in their first three months of work because their expectations weren't met.

"First impressions matter. How a new employee is onboarded, trained and welcomed into a new working environment directly impacts their desire to work with a company over the long term. For businesses that don't get this right, the consequences are significant," said Pyne.

"Not being able to attract and retain staff can disrupt supply chain business operations and impact their ability to service customers and simply meet demand. We have seen otherwise successful supply chain businesses unable to keep up with demand at various points throughout the last year due to staff shortages. In a competitive hiring environment, organisations must do more to position themselves as an employer of choice and offer compelling reasons for workers to turn up for shifts."

While supply chain businesses are currently challenged to do more to entice workers, there are positive signs that employees want to commit to employers for long-term work, with 52% of respondents saying that the average length of time they hope to stay with a new employer was three years or more.

Research showed that organisations should offer new employees ongoing management support and in-depth training to ensure workers feel comfortable and motivated to work for a business long-term,. More than half (56%) of respondents also highlighted that they desired high levels of flexibility around the shifts and hours they work for an employer.

“To retain top-quality staff, supply chain employers need to understand that work often sits alongside important life and family commitments, and workers value systems that simplify their lives. Advanced workforce management solutions can facilitate a flexible work environment for employees through automating shift management, onboarding, training, and leave management.

“In a part-time, casual or shift worker environment, supply chain businesses can enable their staff to work in a way that suits their needs by setting parameters around staffing requirements in their workforce management solution and allowing team members to swap and bid for shifts and set their availability, autonomously,” said Pyne.